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Chapter 008: Is Vera a Prodigy?
🕑 Added 2025-09-26 08:07:52 +0000 UTCIt wasn't until dusk completely enveloped the city and dazzling neon lights replaced the warm sunlight that Vera, quite exhausted in her personal laboratory codenamed 'Umbrella,' finally looked up, rubbed her temples, and stopped writing the workstation preparation programs.
In the cyberpunk world of 2074, virtually any electronic device had hacker interfaces.
Programmable, connectable, controllable...
With brain-machine synchronization, even for technical research topics, today's researchers mostly performed computational simulation work in segmented cybernetworks, generating on built-in virtual screen grids, connecting to real terminals, with weak AI computational assistance, then transmitting, generating, adjusting, experimenting, constantly adjusting...
[Regenerate (3rd Adjustment, 1st Improvement Experiment)]
[Type: Recovery and Rehabilitation Healthcare Product]
[Product Improvement Unit: Umbrella Personal Laboratory (Arasaka)]
[Notes: Based on data collection and feedback from Danger Girl's recovery and rehabilitation services, timely adjustments and program improvements for the latest model. After preliminary testing, compared to the currently circulating Regenerate-B4 on the market, the C1 experimental type shows enhanced effectiveness of approximately 6%-9% in natural and artificial skin care.]
2074/5/27, 22:14.
After half a day of calculations, Vera finally controlled the iteration of medicinal effects to a relatively reasonable degree.
With Umbrella from another world backing her, Vera had put considerable effort into biotechnology knowledge.
Perhaps she couldn't compare to Dr. Marcus or Dr. William Birkin, but it wasn't low either. At least she could understand it and reproduce it when materials were complete and T-virus wasn't essential.
Especially after gaining personnel and technical data support from William Birkin's Raccoon City base, Vera used her corporate executive status to access complete sets of data. It was simple, she didn't want B.O.W., T-virus, or G-virus classified projects, just Umbrella's normal medical products circulating in the market, developing the Asia-Pacific civilian market, the kind that actually made money.
Backed by the mountain that was Arasaka, even though Arasaka wasn't a biotech giant, its research department was well-funded. Raw materials, as long as they weren't T-virus related, could all be obtained, making Vera's reproduction path much more convenient.
"Let's leave it at that for now..."
The production data from the experimental workstation equipment was fully displayed on Vera's cyber-eye implants, requiring only cortical brain commands to review the data.
6%-9%.
Vera's indigo eyes flickered with faint red light.
That's enough.
She couldn't just leap to the latest model in one go, she had to improve gradually to show she hadn't abandoned her 'hobby.'
After sending the supporting [Regenerate-C1] data along with improvement data and element migration chemical models to Danger Gal's business department, Vera stretched comfortably.
The research lab was small but had everything it needed.
Here, Vera could reproduce 'Umbrella' biotechnology through reasonable means with explainable origins.
Making maximum use of her identity, the biotechnology courses she'd chosen at Arasaka Academy were the first step, and after joining the company, her demonstrated interest in the Old Net and extremely cautious salvage and restoration work...
As time passed, the character Vera had crafted was basically established, with fewer and fewer gaps needing to be filled.
Reasonable, yet carrying a hint of genius unreasonableness.
Beep.
Work done.
After disinfecting and changing out of the bulky protective clothing, Vera exited the inner chamber, pressed the safety switch, passed identity verification, and the laboratory slowly and safely shut down operations according to safety protocols.
After sending out the data, this matter was temporarily out of Vera's hands.
The subsequent detailed testing and clinical trials were Danger Girl's business, she just wanted the money.
As for [Adravil] coagulant and [Aqua Cure] trauma first-aid ointment, no rush. Improving one product in a day could be called genius and explained as prior preparation, but if you improve three in one day, that would be...
Vera definitely didn't want to be completely transferred to the Biotechnology Research Department due to overly prominent talent, not even if they promoted her three levels!
...
In the following time, Vera visited the soldier barracks located on the Security Department floors.
After meeting with her Special Assault Forces subordinates for brief conversations, announcing Team 6's bonus matters and encouragement for other teams, she was escorted to the shooting range for routine marksmanship maintenance training.
Arasaka's JKE-X2 Kenshin, HJKE-11 Yukimura, Senkou LX, Shigure, TKI-20 Shingen, HJSH-18 Masamune, Nowaki... Tsunami Defense's Nekomata, Militech's assault rifles, Kang Tao's smart weapons, basically all the most widely circulated weapons on the market, Vera fired several magazines with both speed and precision.
Sparks flew on the targets.
Better safe than sorry, there might come a time when they'd be needed.
"7 seconds faster. Ma'am, if someone on external missions applies clerical personnel target handling to you, I think they'd definitely regret it... You're practically a prodigy, uh, do you still simulate CQB [close quarters battle]?"
Vera's trusted subordinate, Team 6 Deputy Leader Jimmy, a 6'5" white guy, fully armed but not wearing a helmet, stared at the timer in amazement. Having followed Vera all these years, he could say he'd completely witnessed Vera's progress.
Though Vera rarely engaged enemies directly on the front lines, that didn't mean she was a weak commander without the strength to truss a chicken.
"If someone breaks through to my position, that means you're either dead or slacking off."
Without responding to her subordinate's flattery, Vera just glanced sideways at her adjutant.
At this moment, she was holding a Satara electromagnetic shotgun one-handed.
Her slender, pale fingers with hidden cyborg modifications and faint muscle definition lines formed a stark contrast with the heavy, bulky weapon, as if the massive recoil might snap them the next second.
The trigger was pulled.
The smart connection synergy processor built into the palm's subcutaneous tissue synced with the electromagnetic shotgun, inputting the target's coordinates and magnified images directly to her built-in visual implants, aiming, automatically compensating for shooting trajectory deviation, firing.
Bang!
With the sound of electricity, fifty meters away, electromagnetically accelerated sharp steel spikes exploded on the target, producing massive sparks and even causing a melting reaction.
After confirming the projectile's exit, Vera tossed the Satara electromagnetic shotgun to her adjutant Jimmy. "Skip the combat simulation today. I stayed longer at the Bio-Research Department."
With a cool turn, wagging her finger lightly, Vera left the barracks.
...
2074/5/27, 22:44.
Security Department's affiliated Internal Network Security Division.
Beep.
The automatic door opened. "Director Vera." The Arasaka netrunner who saw Vera bowed respectfully.
"Mm, safety relay." Vera nodded, then found a familiar seat and beckoned.
The employee, an Arasaka netrunner administrative staff member not wearing hacker gear lying in a data pod, smiled bitterly. "Director, you... sigh, take it easy." He handed Vera a tablet-like relay device.
This thing was like a layer of protection. Compared to directly plugging in a personal connection cable, even if hackers traced back to find your location and uploaded demon puppet attack viruses to counter you, what got fried would only be the relay instead of the user's brain.
Arasaka wore shoes [had protections], naturally they had such things.
Vera wouldn't directly connect external objects to her brain-machine interface like some hothead.
Muscle definition lines appeared on her pale skin as Vera extracted a personal connection cable from her palm and plugged it into the safety relay, leaned back on the sofa, and closed her eyes.
"Connect to the Old Net. Wake me at exactly midnight."
"Yes."
From Vera's perspective, after spreading darkness, a glimmer appeared. In the dim space floated blue-white data streams, densely packed, arranged in orderly matrices, faintly forming a straight path ahead.
In the endless distance was an area of dim, flickering dazzling light.
There—
Was cyberspace.
"Well then, let's begin the 'workout.'"
